Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 54710 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54710 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
“I’m on my way.”
“Ma’am, I’m sorry about this,” Gwen says.
I put up a hand. “It’s been a really long day, and it’ll be best if someone other than me takes over from here.”
It only takes about two minutes for Noel to emerge from the stairwell, dressed in gray sweatpants and a white T-shirt, black slide sandals on his bare feet.
“You okay?” he asks, his gaze locked onto me.
God, he looks good. His wide shoulders and toned biceps stretch the T-shirt taut across his chest and arms. A girl could sink her hands into those shoulders while she’s getting railed into oblivion.
“I used the key card to get into my room, and it worked. But when I got inside, there was a man in bed who threatened to shoot me.”
Noel’s brows jump up. He stops right in front of me, putting a hand on my waist. “What the hell? Do we need the police?”
“No,” Gwen says emphatically. “We seem to have made a mistake and double-booked the room. And unfortunately, we don’t have any other rooms available. We’ll take that room off the bill, of course.”
Noel draws his brows together, scowling at her. “A mistake? That’s all you have to say? Where is this guy? Get him down here right now.”
“I can’t do that, sir.”
“Get your boss on the phone.”
Gwen’s lips part with surprise. “Sir, it’s the middle of the night.”
“I don’t care. Our team has been staying here for a long time, and if you don’t—”
I interject. “Noel. I’m so tired. Can I just have Caroline’s room?”
“She doesn’t have one.”
I give him a look. “I won’t say a word about her being in your room, but if she has one and it’s empty, like Talia and Lucien—”
He drops his brows, confused. “Why would Caroline be in my room? She’s back in Cleveland.” He looks at my feet. “Where are your shoes?”
“On the floor in room 326. I was too scared to get them.”
He glares at Gwen. “Go get her shoes and have a cot sent to my room. This isn’t over.”
“Sir, I can’t—”
He folds his arms. “Get her shoes and a cot within the next ten minutes, or I’ll check the entire team out of this shithole right now.”
Gwen looks like she might be sick. “Yes, sir. Right away.”
He reaches for the bag slung over my shoulder, and I pull away. “I’ve got it.”
Unfazed, he takes the strap and puts it over his own shoulder, then reaches for the handle of my rolling suitcase.
My shoulders sink with an exhausted sigh. “I can roll my suitcase. Just take me to the room.”
His steely eyes stay locked on mine for another second before he relents. He leads the way to the elevator, my pink travel bag looking out of place resting against his hip.
Silence hangs in the elevator, my heart racing. I’m staying in his room. With him. And his shoulders. It’s what I’ve wanted for a while now, but not like this.
“Sorry if I woke you up,” I say, just to fill the quiet space.
“You didn’t. And it wouldn’t matter if you had.” I feel him looking at me. “Why did you think Caroline was in my room?”
I stare at the panel of number buttons, my heart racing. “I thought you guys were a thing.”
“We’re not. Why did you think that?”
I’m thrilled and embarrassed simultaneously. The elevator doors slide open, saving me from responding.
“I’ll take the cot,” I say as I step into the hallway.
“No, you won’t,” he grumbles.
He seems to think I’m like his players, and I’ll follow his orders without question. And even though I’m exhausted, I’m not too tired to remind him he’s not my boss.
Irony—not sleeping in his bed is my way of showing him I belong in his bed. I do what I want, whether he likes it or not.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Noel
“Perfect.” Jules spots the small sofa in my room and walks over to it. “I’ll sleep here.”
“You’ll sleep in the bed.”
She grabs a pillow from the bed and puts it on the sofa, then takes her travel bag from me. “I’m going to wash my face and brush my teeth, and then I’m going to sleep. On this sofa.”
I shake my head, my fatigue forgotten. “I’ll be on the sofa when you come out of the bathroom, so you can try to move me off it, but it won’t work well.”
Her sharp note of laughter is unamused. “Fine. You’ll have to get up to answer the door when the cot gets here and then I’ll take the sofa.”
I shrug. “I won’t answer it.”
She folds her arms in front of her. “Then I’ll answer it and use the cot.”
I run a hand through my hair, my frustration mounting. “Don’t be so stubborn, Jules.”
“I just want to sleep. I honestly don’t care where it is.”
“Good. It’ll be in the bed.”